You pinch, I punch.

That’s my motto on St. Patty’s Day, anyway. Even though green is my favorite color, I’m not so much into the holiday itself. We Jewish folk have plenty of our own drinking holidays; there’s no need to piggyback off others’. One of our biggest, Purim, was just a couple of days ago.

But if eating salads instead of day-drinking green beer on St. Patrick’s Day makes me lame, then so be it. But the thing about salad is that it can go south real fast if there’s no creativity or if the freshness is lacking. So allow me to sift through for you. Let’s take a virtual walk along the parade route (and definitely a lot farther around the city) to uncover some of the best salads (AKA “greens”) around. If you want to start eating these greens the day AFTER St. Patty’s Day, that’s just fine with me. But lord knows you green beer drinkers need a detox, and a good salad can go a long way, so let’s get started…

Dallas’ 11 Best Salads Right Now

Southwest Chicken Salad, Super Chix

Available topped with grilled or fried chicken (those fried tenders are hard to turn down, y’all), this salad has avocado, pepitas and orange segments for pops of spice and flavor. I recommend getting their honey mustard on the side, too. And some custard for dessert, obvi.

Kale Caesar, Blatt Beer & Table

This Caesar is unique due to its dressing (a uniquely addictive Caesar), cheese (delicious Grana Padano) and protein topper (curry-seasoned grilled chicken). I order this big bowl of greens so I can feel a bit better about stealing some of my kids’ mac and cheese because damn.

Custom Salad Bar, Eatzi’s Market & Bakery

This one is a classic, and the only “make your own” salad I’m including on this list. I could include Salata or Crisp Salad Co. (both solid salad choices), but honestly I like Eatzi’s salad bar even more. Here’s a pro tip for folks who have trouble creating their own salad. Start with the dressing that strikes your fancy and work backwards, coordinating the salad fixins that belong in a salad that ends up with that dressing. Make sense? Voila!

Kale Caesar, Moxie’s Grill & Bar

The second kale Caesar on this list! I know. But this one is a doozie. So, so good. Chopped so you get the perfect ratio of dressing to lettuce in every bite. When we tried it at our media tasting last week, a friend even ordered up an extra to take to work the next day. Oh, and the Seared Ginger Tuna Salad there is fabulous as well.

Chicken Chop, Pie Tap Pizza Workshop + Bar

Pie Tap is winning folks over all over town from pizzas to salads to cocktails to brunch. This salad has the goods: a creamy buttermilk dressing, corn, tomatoes and a big crispy milanese-style chicken breast. Dinner is served.

The Traveler, Unleavened

The Traveler is a limited time salad, but actually you can turn any of Unleavened’s wraps into salads and get the goodness in a big, beautiful bowl like this. I’m particularly fond of anything with pickles or pickled onions, as you can see. And definitely check the specials board to see what’s up when you’re in. Also, pssst: Kids eat free for dinner. Every. Day.

Panzanella, Sprezza

Goodness I love a good panzanella. Lots of vinegar. Good, good tomatoes and some crunchy bread. Yes. Well, Sprezza tosses up a very fine specimen. As does Americano, by the way…

Seared Ahi Salad, Matchbox

This salad is one of those big, healthy salads you could turn into two meals if you wanted to. I usually don’t but you know, you could. Asian dressing tossed with all the good stuff: crunchy ramen noodles, edamame, avocado, carrots, peppers, and seared sesame-coated tuna. Greatness.

Haystack Salad, Haystack Burgers and Barley

Don’t stop at burgers when you get to Haystack. There’s so much more going on, from sandwiches to chili and also salads. This one is perfection. Great ranch (a must for any restaurant that serves… food.) and fresh ingredients, plus delicious chicken, grilled OR fried, depending on how naughty you want to be. Because there are also Girl Scout Cookie shakes waiting…

Greek Salad topped with gyro meat, Little Greek Fresh Grill

The Greek salad at Little Greek is LOADED. I mean, really. tomatoes, pepperoncini, cucumbers, feta, beets, potato salad (trust me, it’s a good addition) and olives. The addition of Greek lamb and beef from the spit just takes it over the top. Ziziki’s makes a killer version of this too, with a mint dressing I would knock over someone’s poor old Greek granny for.

The Mediterranean, Luna Grill

Lemony, minty cous cous gives this Mediterranean salad just the right balance of carbs-to-greens-to-protein ratio. It’s pretty much perfect.

Do you have a favorite salad I have overlooked? Please do share! I hate a #disappointingsalad but I love to discover new greatness. Let’s hear it in the comments!